An Instant's Importance
by berryfuls
Summary: With her life on the line, he will react. A modern Kataang oneshot. Characters sorta, kinda, a lot OOC.


**A/N: mmmm I'm still not sure if I like this one or not. Aang (who is the POV, fyi) just seems to act like a girl. That would probably be because I'm a bit of a girly girl, so tend to make my guys a little on the feminine side. That, and the fact it ended up being a bit more angsty than I had planned.**

**I'm sure you will figure this out, but I'm a teenage girl who can't drive and have never been in an accident. So forgive my mistakes.**

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It happened in an instant. One minute I was driving with my best friend in the passenger seat, listening to some teeny-bopper actress sing about her petty boyfriend problems. We were just laughing at everything she said.

The next minute, there was a screech of tires, on the pavement, and then a CRASH.

The sedan in front of me had just run a red light, plunging hood-first into the right side of a silver Explorer. My friend, Zuko, screamed at me, "Pull over man! We've got to help them!" I complied silently, anxious to get out and try to help.

As Zuko went forward to check on the guy in the sedan, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. I quickly explained to the operator what had just happened, who then told me to hang up and do nothing – don't open the doors, don't break the glass. There was a chance that blood could get on us.

I shoved the phone back in my pocket and jogged hurriedly to Zuko's side. "Don't open the windows or anything," I told him. He grunted to show he understood –although I doubted he would listen. My hands shook as I headed to the Explorer. Already I could tell that someone was bleeding heavily, judging by the splatter of red on the windshield. Someone was slouched in the passenger's seat.

Someone I recognized from my English class sat in the driver's seat. Her name was Ty Lee. She looked really shaken up from the accident.

I waved to show her I was there, and she rolled down the non-crumpled back window and her own in a dream-like state. I noticed her friend Suki in the backseat. "Ty Lee, Suki, are you alright?"

They both nodded with big brown eyes wide. "Yeah, I think I'm fine. Little hysteria from just getting my car totaled, but otherwise just some cuts and bruises." Ty Lee replied. "It's Katara I'm worried about."

A pang hit me. Katara was one of Ty Lee's best friends and the girl I had been in love with since freshman year. She had briefly dated Zuko, but then they broke up after her ex Jet ruined the date. Since then, she had been single, although Jet had been trying to get her back. Desperately, I should add. Her brother Sokka was currently going out with Suki.

Before I could say anything, an ambulance pulled up. I exhaled heavily in relief as they split up. One group went to the sedan and the other made a beeline for the Explorer. One flagged me down and started asking me questions.

"Sir, were you in either of these two vehicles?"

"No, but I was behind the sedan when it hit the Explorer. And my friends are in that car!"

He simply shook his head. "Either help direct traffic or get back in your car and leave." I nodded and he left. Jerk.

Zuko must have been told the same thing, because he came over beside me and started waving at cars to go into the next lane. I just sighed and leaned against my car. "Katara was on the side that got hit," I said dully. He looked over his shoulder at me with wide eyes.

"No. No no no. She can't be… Crap." I nodded and swallowed stiffly. "You never even got to go with her to prom."

I turned away and sat sideways in my car with the door open. For some reason, my eyes stayed glued to the scene before me, although I really didn't want to see her like that. Suki and Ty Lee were taken out, checked over, and then sent over to us. Suki went to talk to Zuko about something –probably their Spanish homework- but Ty Lee lingered near me. She leaned against the backseat door beside me.

"She doesn't deserve this. She is the nicest, sweetest person I know. She gives back more than she receives."

I just shook my head. "Bad things happen to good people. Its like karma doesn't exist." She looked at me, her eyes showing her confliction.

Finally she spit it out. "She really liked you, you know. Did, does, either way. You're a part of her, even if she was never was close to you."

My eyes shut themselves tight, holding back the tears fiercely. I had acted like a girl this whole time. I needed my dignity to reply to something like that. When I was sure my eyes wouldn't betray me, I opened them again. "Well, she's certainly always been a part of me, so I guess that makes sense." I just stared at my feet, avoiding her eyes and Katara being pulled out of the car.

"You-you-you-WHAT?!"

I didn't say anything. I could hear the group trying to talk to Katara, and then I heard probably the most beautiful thing in the world.

"No, it's just my arm. My leg is fine. See? I can put weight on it. Okay, ow! I can put weight on it but it hurts with you poke it!"

I looked up to see Katara conscious, standing with a steadying hand on one of the EMT's arms. The other one, her right, was wrapped up in bandages and hung in a sling. Her brilliant blue eyes were annoyed as she looked down on a guy who was grasping her shin. I think he was trying to see if there was any swelling.

"Katara!" Yes, I did say that a lot louder than I had planned. But when she looked up, her smile made any regret at all vanish. She waved with her free hand, looking happy to see me.

Ty Lee hit my knee, the only thing she could reach. "Go talk to her!" I stood up and walked over, feeling a bit smug when the guy who had told me to leave earlier was interrupted when she hugged me happily.

Her bloody clothes had been covered with some smock-like thing that reminded me of those backwards robes I saw on TV all the time. Her tangled thick brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, with stray hairs falling in random places. A large bruise almost cover a whole cheek and her eyes were bloodshot.

In other words, she was as perfect as ever. "What are you doing here? Did Ty Lee call you?" she asked.

I shook my head, trying to stay casual. "No, I was in the car behind the jerk that did this to you." I put a hand on her normal-looking cheek and felt a faint blush warm my fingers.

"Aang, don't. There's a reason they call them accidents, not intentionals." The humor she had meant to put in didn't quite make it there, because I had softly put a light kiss on her bruised cheek. Her breathing became a little irregular, and I could feel her pulse against me.

"Just tell me if you want me to stop." I whispered, touching my lips to the tip of her nose. How this was so easy, so natural was beyond me. For years I had been a klutz around her, and then all of a sudden I can just do this?

"No, stop. Please." I pulled away, feeling rejected. That's probably why. Her eyes darted to the EMTs who were still hanging around. "You guys can leave now. You said I wouldn't have to go to the hospital, since I didn't lose _that_ much blood and my arm isn't broken."

They seemed angered by this, but started packing up anyway. I also turned to leave, assuming that I had went too far and ruined any chance I had with her.

"Aang? Where are you going?" I turned around to find her just inches away. "When I said stop, I meant pause." Then she kissed me. It was amazing to me, and I could sense her marveling it too.

"Little Katara," I said, tightening the arm that had somehow found itself around her waist. "Why can't you see what you're doing to me?" She smiled and laid her head on my shoulder.

So that's how a car crash ended with me getting the girl I was in love with. Crazy, isn't it, how things like this happen in an instant?

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**See why I don't like it now? Review, but please be nice.... I tried, didn't I? LOVE YALL!**

**ibroughthomeababybumblebee**


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